Tell me that again
by I.J.Girl
Summary: An AU story in which Gnomeo and Juliet's parents haven't died, and they all live together in one garden. How can Gnomeo and Juliet fall in love when they've always known each other, and fought till the cows came home? Read this and you'll find out!
1. Just maybe

**Hey everyone! Yes I've started another story, and yes it's another AU! I just can't seem to make sequels, no matter how hard I try! Personally I think this should be rated T+, but they don't have that, so I'm settling for T. You'll why see later on.**

**So anyway, who wants to hear me ramble on and on? No one, right?**

**Okay so, I don't own Gnomeo and Juliet, Mr. Capulet and Ms. Montague own them. And I don't remember who owns Mr. Capulet and Ms. Montague, so let's get on with the story!**

The house stood there, in a peaceful neighbor hood, the walls, fences and shingles an alternated combination of red and blue.

The newly wed couple stood in the front yard, admiring the new look on the house, without the barriers of any fence splitting the house in half, or colors defining where one person's space ended, and the other began.

Instead they were united, more beautiful now together than they ever had been apart.

And so were the people inside the house. Mrs. Capulet smiled up at her husband, as he gently caressed her arm.

If only the same could be said for the inhabitants of the garden in the back, who were now united against their will.

How could they, simple garden figures, protest against their owners' marriage?

The answer was simple: they couldn't.

Then what about their feud, you ask?

Simple. The more peace loving folks went along with their owners. The others could feud to their hearts content…they just couldn't leave any evidence, now that there was no one else to point their fingers at.

Juliet couldn't have been more upset. After another failed attempt to annoy those blues, she was sent to weed.

Weed the garden, of all things. Of course, she only weeded the plants that had been in the original Red garden, plus any other red plants that Horace had planted. Any red plants Helena had planted went uncared for by both the Red and the Blue gnomes. Same thing went for blue plants planted by Horace. Only gnomes who cared for them were the "Hippies", as they were called.

She snorted as a couple passed by her, laughing as they did. Of course, Manuel, that gnome without anything that could pass for even being the most pitiful excuse of clothing, and that Dolly girl, the announcer of the races between her (or Tybalt) and Gnomeo.

She was surprised that no one else from the blue garden seemed capable of racing. Then again, maybe she wasn't.

Benny could barely reach the steering strings, Lord Gnathan was retired, and, well, Gnomeo was the only one in that family with any skill.

Her thoughts shifted back to her own mother, and the battle to keep her alive all those years ago.

She cringed, and closed her eyes, before shaking her head and shoving those thoughts to the back of her mind

_She's still alive, at least._

"Hello, Juliet."

She knew without turning her head who it was.

"Hello, Aunt Rosa. How are you feeling today?"

"Uh, cracked up."

Juliet had to laugh at that response. "Oh, really now?"

Aunt Rosa chuckled herself as she knelt down next to her niece.

"You know what today is, right?"

Juliet paused at her work.

"The day he-" she couldn't finish the sentence. Today was when Uncle Ron and Aunt Rosa had both been smashed. They were able to save Aunt Rosa, but not Uncle Ron.

"I can't believe I forgot."

"I almost forgot myself. You were busy today. Just thought you'd like to know why your parents reacted the way they did. It's not anything you did. It's just…"

"I so sorry."

"Don't be," Aunt Rosa stood up, revealing her frame to be nearly entirely cracked in almost every place. Her head though, was entirely intact. She smiled at Juliet.

"Just don't get too caught up…in everything. The blues aren't as bad as you think."

Juliet frowned at her aunt's departing form.

Gnomeo nodded absent-mindedly at Benny's non-stop chattering, while keeping an eye on Juliet's goons filling up the hole they had dug underneath the wisteria to try and damage the root system.

Thankfully Benny had caught them in time, and now they were stuck trying to not bury themselves in the process of filling up the hole.

How they were managing to do that without unearthing the red tulips planted all around the wisteria, he had no idea.

"…and you're still not listening, are you?"

"Must have taken a lot of planning," he mumbled, still not having heard Benny.

"I give up!"

"Huh? Oh, sorry Benny. What were you saying?"

Benny threw his short arms up into the air in frustration. "Oh, forget it!"

And off he stomped. Gnomeo merely shrugged and continued to keep an eye on the red trouble makers.

"Is that all you can do, stand around uselessly while we work?"

He smirked at the voice, not even turning to face it.

"Well, maybe if I didn't have to be keeping an eye out for ditzy trouble makers, I might be able to actually do something."

"And yet you are always able to take time out to work on that wretched lawnmower of yours. Wow, I am impressed," the sarcastic voice continued backhandedly.

"Oh, was that a compliment I heard?"

"I was being sarcastic, nitwit."

"I know, Juliet," he answered, slightly distracted by something Juliet couldn't see.

She scoffed at him, and continued carrying her weeds to the new composter-one of the few good things that came from the marriage of their owners.

"Hey, you dropped some!" he yelled after her, smiling. He couldn't see her face, but he was sure it was beet red from anger at the moment.

_Better leave before she comes at you…again._

Instead he smirked, watching her walk away with that slight sway in her hips; silently admitting to himself that maybe he did enjoy their one-on-one fights a little too much.

Just maybe…

**So, tell me how I did. If you're still confused about some things, tell me in the review (hint, hint), and I'll explain it in the next chapter!**

_**Hasta luego!**_


	2. Chapter 2

**YES! I did it! I updated on the 11/11/11th! That right there is kinda cool!(if you ask me)**

**Anyway so, that behind us, I'm dedicating this chapter to Missy Mes, and Mizar and alcor!**

**Thank you both for dedicating your chapters to me! It means a lot to me.**

**Anyway, raise hands anyone who want to continue listening to me ramble!**

**No one? Great! On with the story!**

"Maybe if we-"

"No, that wouldn't work either."

She sighed. Then, her face lighting up, she pointed towards the other one.

"Do you think this would work?"

His face scrunched up in contemplation. "No, I don't-"

"Wait," she cried, pulling the small metal stick out of his hand. Bending down, she began to add a few more details to the plan, her tongue sticking out slightly.

"How about now?"

This time he grinned. "Lina, you are a genius."

She grinned back. "Thanks. So, you're actually serious about this?"

Gnomeo nodded, looking over the plan scribbled out on the ground. "They nearly killed the wisteria."

"Is that all that life is to you? Revenge against the reds?"

"Of course. I mean, what else is there?"

"I… I don't know. Family, I guess," he nodded at that, "It just doesn't seem right to be running around in circles all your life. I mean, that's all this is. An endless circle of 'You hit me, so I'll kick you' over and over and over."

He shrugged. "It's the way it's always been, Lina."

"It can't have always been like this!"

"Why do you always have to turn our conversations into arguments?"

Instead of answering, she threw her hands up in a helpless gesture. "I've got things to do. You need me for anything else?"

With a rather angry look on his face, he shook his head. "Go ahead. Leave."

Gnomeo watched for a moment as she walked off, an angry stance to her, then turned back to the plan on the ground.

_She is smart, but…She just shouldn't be thinking like that._

"Gnomeo?"

He looked up. "Hey, Mum. Dad."

She frowned. "What's wrong with Lina?"

He shrugged. "We had a bit of an argument again."

"What was it about this time?"

"Same as last time."

Lord Gnathan smiled compassionately at his son. "You can't blame her though. She's a girl who actually thinks about things. Like your mother."

"Mum didn't question the feud," Gnomeo pointed out.

"Maybe not, but she did question the role of women here in the garden. She managed to show that women can lead as well as men. She put us as equals."

"Are you saying that Lina might be right?"

"I'm saying she might have a point. Maybe not the way she's thinking of it at the moment, but it might eventually come through in the right way. Until then, I think she just needs someone to listen to her."

He just shrugged and continued contemplating the plan Lina had drawn out.

Frowning, Lord Gnathan pulled Lady Blueberry away.

"Are you sure we did the right thing? Setting those two up?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Gnomeo couldn't seem to care less, and she…"

"Too rebellious?"

She nodded. "I just hope you're right about her."

"Me too, love. Me too."

XXXXX

"She'll be fine, 'Lia."

"Horrendous."

"What?"

"Paris. He looks…ugly."

"He's a good person, 'Lia."

"I didn't say he was or wasn't. He's just…not very good looking."

"I'd rather she married a good person than one who looked good."

"I'd rather that if she's marrying someone without love, that he be both a good person, and good-looking."

"But we don't have anyone like that!"

"We have Tybalt, though he's out of the question."

"Tybalt isn't good looking."

"Yes, he is. I mean, look. He-"

"We don't need to talk about that."

"Darling, I'm just trying to prove a point."

"That isn't even irrelevant to what we're talking about!"

"It's 'relevant', Redbrick. And I'm only pointing out things that a girl would like in a gnome."

"Alright, but who, then, Cordelia?"

She turned and scanned the garden. "It's a pity those boys are blues. That Gnomeo is a real fine one."

"Cordelia!"

"What? He is! And a good one too. Just on the wrong side of the fence is all. Too bad we can't just paint their hats red, and then, poof, all our problems are gone."

Redbrick just chuckled at his wife, shaking his head. "Sweetheart, it wouldn't change who they are. And they'd just turn blue again eventually, anyway."

"I know. That's why I said it was too bad."

After a moment, she groaned. "I guess she'll just have to be stuck with Paris. I bet you're happy with that."

"Of course. Even if he didn't marry her, I would have made him Juliet's advisor."

"Why do you favor the boy so?"

"If you don't recall, his father was my advisor-"

"And your best friend, I know! But I think he won't be much of a leader. That will mostly be handled by either Juliet or Tybalt. He'll be too busy with his plants."

Lord Redbrick couldn't argue with that, so he merely frowned and changed the subject.

**Okay, so tell me, how did I do? Please be completely honest, I'm not too sure how good this chapter is. **

**Tell me if you think some of the characters are _too_ OOC.**

**And now:**

**Guess where this came from.**

**(And see if you can find it!)**

**-Terrafirminator will not inhibit grass from growing**

**-Not recommended for residential use**

**-Not recommended for commercial use either **

**-Do not use vehicle while sleeping**

**-Do not stick your fingers in the tiller blades-duh**

**-Not recommended for children under 3**

**-Or 4**

**-For external use only **

**-After use, lawn may appear completely destroyed**

**-Do not be alarmed-this is perfectly normal**

**Side effects of using the Terrafirminator may include:**

***Dry mouth**

***Heightened levels of testosterone**

***Nausea**

***Loss of hearing**

***Blurred vision**

***Ssslured speech**

***Voices telling you to burn things**

***Loss of bowel control**

***Persistent feelings of awesomeness**

***Tight hamstrings**

***Megalomania**

***In some rare instances some people may explode when viewing the Terrafirminator**

**I swear by my…favorite, uh, book that that is not made up!**


	3. Featherstone and los muchachos

**Hey, everybody! Sorry I took so long to update, but I have been doing math with base 2s and base 10s and base 5s, and exponents and something to the whatever power and whatnot. Boring and mind bending. It HURTS! And it takes forever!**

**Anyway, I think some of you might be worried about me other story, A slight Mistake? Well, I'm still stuck on the second chapter, but I'm working on it, slowly but surely. I hope I can post soon!**

**And while you're reading this chapter keep in mind this is about a year or so before the rest of the story, and I'll be having a few more chapters like this, hopefully alternated with "real-time" in the story.**

**Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy reading the story, because I sure do like writing it!**

**On with the story!**

_She smiled, absentmindedly rubbing the small bump just barely beginning to show on her thin, lean frame._

_She was pregnant._

_She could hardly believe it. Already she could imagine Steven's exited reaction to the news._

"_Really?" he would ask._

_She would nod and smile again, watching the grin spread across his face as he picked her up and twirled her around, before asking her a barrage of questions._

_She shook her head clearing her mind of that image. First, she thought, rubbing her ruby red hat, she had to show him what she really was._

"_And before that," she continued out loud, grinning, "I need to tell Featherstone, and los muchachos!"_

_Quickly, she slipped out of the Red garden, hoping no one had seen her, and running across to the abandoned Lawrence garden across the alley, giggling uncontrollably at her sudden eagerness._

_Without any thought directed towards the possibility of a human seeing her, she dove through the hole in the gate, frightening the group of elves just behind it._

"_Aaaaaaaaj, te dije que iba volver!" shouted one of the little wooden elves, cowering in a corner trembling._

_The others, seeing Rosalinda burst in, just laughed at him._

"_No, no, solo es la gnoma!" laughed one of them. _

_She laughed at them, waving at them as she ran past the short little elves laughing at their friend._

"_Featherstone! Featherstone! I've got some really big news!"_

_The pink flamingo stuck his sun-washed head out of the shed. "Que paso, linda? Did he propose or something?" _

_She shook her head. "Oh, no, not yet! Oh, but I've got even bigger news!"_

_He laughed coming out of the shed completely. "Let me guess. You told him?"_

_Rosalinda's smile fell for a second. "No, not yet. But I'm going to have to tell him soon."_

_Featherstone shook his head at her. "You know, it isn't good to have secrets in a relationship."_

"_I know, I know. But," she grinned happily again, "I'm going to be a mom!"_

_His jaw dropped. "What?"_

_She laughed. "Voy a ser una mama!" _

_Slowly an incredulous smile spread over his face. "That's…great! Congratulations! Oh, we're going to hear little feet running around the sidewalks soon! Esto es… ¡genial! ¡Muchachos, linda va a tener un bebe! Oh, we're going to have a baby shower, and a-a…" Rosalinda laughed at his excited antics._

"_Featherstone! I have to tell Steven first!"_

_He came to a stop in front of her. "You mean you haven't told him yet? Go, go, you have to tell him! Oh, and don't forget the other thing you have to tell him too."_

_Laughing, she ran out of the garden. "Alright I'm going!" _

_Even out in the alley, she could hear the little Spanish elves chattering excitedly among themselves._

_Sending a glance down the alley to make sure that the jogger that came around everyday wasn't there, she sprinted across again, barely managing to stop before colliding with the fence on the other side._

Steven's going to love being a dad!_ She thought, _and I have to be more careful!

**And yahoooo! I got Featherstone in! I was afraid I didn't have a place for him, but this is perfect! Okay, people, what did you think of this chapter? Don't worry! Rosalinda is an important character in this story and her story is important to Gnomeo and Juliet! **

**Oh, and if you want to know what the elves are supposed to sound like(only what they're supposed to sound like, not look like) switch the Gnomeo and Juliet movie over to Spanish, and find a scene where the little red gnomes are. Listen to them and that's about what my green elves sound like! **

**Oh, and I'll translate what they were saying for those of you who don't understand Spanish:**

**Ahhh, I told you he would come back! **

**No, no, it's only the gnome!**

**What happened, linda?**

**Linda is the Spanish word for pretty.**

**Please leave a review and tell me what you think!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey, everybody! Yes I am finally updating! I had some pretty bad writers block, and still do, so if this chapter is horrible please tell me! So, I'm introducing a knew character at the end of the chapter, next chapter will go into more detail. Enjoy the story(oh and today is my birth day!) and pay me no mind!**

**I want the loved person to grow and unfold for his own sake, and in his own ways, and not for the purpose of serving me. **

**Erich Fromm, in _Art of Loving_ (1956)**

"Move over, this is my spot!"

"No, it isn't, it's mine!"

"Move or else."

"George, stop pulling my hair, or I'll slap you!"

"If you slap me, my mother will slap you!"

"No, she won't!"

"Yes, she will. She said so!"

"No, she can't."

"Melanie, stop crying! You look ridiculous!"

"Stop being so bossy, Stephanie!"

"James, this is my spot!"

"No, it isn't!"

"Alright, settle down!" for a moment all the commotion stopped, and all of the children turned toward the source of the voice that caused them to quiet. She stood in front of the apple tree; her arms crossed in front of her chest, sapphire hat tipped slightly, cerulean-indigo eyes flashing from one child to another, a not-so-amused look across her face.

Gasping, the children immediately scrambled to their prospective spots on the grass under the tree.

Lina resisted the urge to chuckle at their obvious discomfort, "Good morning students."

"Good morning, Miss Lina," the children responded, squirming uncomfortably under her gaze.

"Now, who wants to guess what we are going to learn about first."

Immediately, smiles sprouted across their faces as they realized she wasn't about to scold them.

"I wanna guess, let me, let me!"

"No, me, meeeeee!"

She laughed, "Okay, okay! I'll just tell you! We're going to learn about-drum roll please-"

Giggling, the preschoolers began to stamp their feet on the ground, eventually falling in to a rhythm.

"…worms!"

The girls immediately stopped stomping their feet. "EWWWWW!"

The boys, on the other hand, stood up, whooped, and ran to their teacher. "Can we start now?" "Are we going to go digging for worms?" "Can we go fishing?"

She smiled at them, watching their eager faces as they swarmed around her, red and blue hats positioned above their eyes.

"We're not going fishing, I already dug up the worms, and yes, we're starting now!"

"I don't want to! Worms are gross and slimy!" Stephanie wailed, pouting.

"Yeah, red is right!" Lina sent the little blue hatted girl a warning glance, "I mean, Stephanie, Stephanie is right."

"Mum said that wo'm poop is what dirt is," volunteered a red boy, James, smiling at Melanie naively.

With a squeal, all five girls jumped up off the ground, running to their teacher. "He's lying…right?"

Lina laughed. These children never ceased to amuse her. "Well, he's partly right" she said, beginning to give them the lesson of the day.

The school that they attended wasn't a school per se. There were no real schedules, the days the children attended the lessons depended on their parents and there was no real curriculum. It was merely an attempt at teaching the children to work together, and be more out going, since their real education came by way of their parents, at home.

Lina had made sure to define the rules on day one, and was attempting to be a good teacher by teaching the children things they could actually use in real life, (hence the earthworms) and by earning their respect. As far as she was concerned, she had been succeeding so far, although her "treat everybody fair" policy had lost her a few students.

'_What did they expect?'_ she had stormed whenever a parent came over saying that they didn't like that she was telling the children not to call each other names. "They need to learn how to respect the feud!" "He's just trying to be like his father!"

'_Hmmph, feud my aunt!'_

As it turned out, the ten children left were either the children of the so called "hippies" or their parents just didn't care as much.

"Now, each on of you is going to take home an earthworm and you're going to feed it and take good care of it," Lina wrapped up the lesson less than an hour later.

The girls grimaced, a few shuddering in disgust.

"Do we have to?" piped up a bespectacled girl with blonde hair pouring out from under her blue hat.

"The wo'm will help that chrysanthemum of yours grow," James piped up.

The little girl's eyes widened and she held her hands out eagerly waiting to get her "wo'm".

Lina laughed at the girl's changed attitude, handing out the worms and sending them home.

"You're really good with them."

Lina spun around, startled. "Gnomeo! W-what are you doing here?"

He was right behind her, his arms held behind his back. "What? I can't say hi to my girlfriend now?"

She glanced away, trying to forget the last time someone had said that to her.

"Hey, uh, I just came here to apologize for earlier," he continued, pulling a small bouquet of flowers out from behind his back.

Lina's eyes widened, "You-you're apologizing?"

He shifted uncomfortably, "Well, yeah."

She smiled softly. "You didn't need to. I was just being…"she waved her hands up in the air, "me, I guess."

"Well, yes, you were, but I shouldn't ha-"

"Thank you. Not many people I know would have apologized when they didn't do anything wrong."

He frowned, crossing his arms. "Lina, you're not even listening to me."

She smiled again. "Sorry. But you don't have anything to be sorry about. I over reacted. I should be the one apologizing."

Lina kissed his cheek, quickly, finding even that small gesture revolting and pulled the small bouquet out of his hands.

"Thanks. No hard feelings?"

"I guess not," Gnomeo rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Great," for a moment, she softened, her faked, forced smile becoming genuine as she gently brushed back a stray strand of jet black hair. She pulled away, thanking him again, before, running off, into the bushes, which had become her place of refuge since about six months ago.

Sighing, she slumped down next to one of the abandoned pots next to the fence.

'_Why do I stay here? I should just leave! There's nothing left for me here.'_

_You stay because of your father._

'_I should forget about him. All he cares about is improving his status in the blue garden, as if that really mattered.'_

_Then you really stay because of _him.

'_I don't care about Gnomeo, I only do it for Dad. The longer I stay here, the more I fall apart. Pretty soon, I'm just going to explode at one of those racist gnomes and ruin my whole family's reputation.'_

"P'itty."

Lina's head shot up from her knees. A baby sat in front of her, holding the bouquet Lina had let fall on the floor in her little hands.

"Oh, it's you, Rosemary."

The little baby looked up at her for a second, then back down to the flowers in her hands.

Rosemary was an outcast, although she didn't really notice. Although perfectly healthy and without a blemish on her, and the offspring of two red gnomes, the thing that made her an outcast was her hat.

It was red, and blue.

_She is the reason you stay, isn't it?_

**Okay, so in the review(hint, hint) tell me how I did, and forgive me if it is rubbish, I am writing on a sugar rush of rare chocolate cake with _frosting!_ And root beer.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I am so sorry! It's been so long since I updated! Um, not much to say about this chapter other than it's short and going according to plan. So, enjoy!**

_Trembling she pulled off her hat. _

"_Just, please," she paused, looking down to the ground and sighing, "just, don't freak out, okay?"_

_Steven shook his head at her, the confusion spreading across his face. A couple of moments ago, Rosalinda's face had been practically shining as she told him about their parenthood. Now it seemed scared and withdrawn._

_In a quick motion, she flipped her hat inside out, and placed it back on her head. Instead of the brilliant ruby red that was painted on the outside, blue and red swirled on the inside of the hat, in a happy pattern of blue drops falling through the red background and joining the blue ocean at the rim of her hat._

_Steven chuckled nervously. "Very funny, Rosalinda. Now please, put your hat on properly and let's start planning for our new family."_

_Her shoulders slumped, "Steven, love, you don't understand. I'm…I'm not a red. I'm not a blue. I'm a mix between the two, see?"_

_He took a step away from her. "Wh-what?"_

"_Steven-"_

"_You've been lying to me the whole time?"_

_She took a step back this time, her cerulean-indigo eyes swimming with tears. "No, I-"_

_Steven's face contorted into a hideous mask of disgust, "And I actually had… You!"_

_His voice turned accusatory. "How dare you? How could you? You just played with my emotions, building up to this point-"_

"_No! I didn't do that! I love you! Haven't I proven that to you these last few months?" her voice was breaking, but not half as badly as her heart was. She reached out to him, pleading._

"_Please, Steven!"_

"_NO! You know how much I hate the blues! And now you turn out to be one of them?"_

"_I'm not one of them!"_

"_Get away from me you, you, whore!" he shoved her, causing her to fall back. _

_No, she thought, I deserve more respect than that. _

_Placing a hand on her abdomen, her face went from lost and heartbroken, to angry, defensive._

_You, she thought, you deserve more respect than that._

"_I am not a whore! You were the one that pushed me to be with you like that! You're the one that-"_

"_Shut up!" a resounding smack was heard through out the alley as his hand made contact with her cheek._

_Rosalinda gritted her teeth against the pain. Steven turned his back on her, stalking over to the Red gate. _

"_How dare you?" reaching behind her, she picked up a rock about the size of her fist, hurling it at him._

_From there things seemed to unfurl in slow motion, the rock flying through the air, his turning back to face her, the rock smashing straight through his head. The rest of his body followed suit, crumbling down into a pile of miniscule ceramic pieces._

_She sat there a couple more seconds, before breaking down into sobs. "What have I done?"_

_She sat there for at least an hour, sobbing as the guilt and shame of what she had done came crashing down on her._

"_I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry, I didn't mean to, it was an accident!"_

"_Linda?" _

_Rosalinda jumped up, Featherstone's voice scaring her. Seeing him, she ran to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. _

"_Linda, what happened?"_

"_I killed him. I didn't mean to, it was an accident, but he hit me, I don't know what came over me! I need to get out of here, before someone figures out what happened!"_

"_Ay, ay, ay, Rosalinda, slow down! What happened?"_

_Instead of answering, the distressed young gnome released his neck. _

"_I need to leave."_

Gnomeo oiled the lawnmower, shaking his head.

Jeez, women were difficult. Nothing he ever did ever seemed to make Lina happy.

A scoff sounded behind him.

"That seems to be all you're good for, huh? Oiling that blasted lawnmower. Oil it any more, and the parts are going to slip apart!"

"At least my lawnmower actually runs, unlike yours."

Juliet walked into his view, "At least ours isn't as outdated as yours is."

Gnomeo turned to confront her properly. "Is that an invitation to a race?"

Juliet smirked widely, the scratch that stretched from her right eyebrow to below her left eye twitching upwards as she smirked widely.

"Maybe."

"If it is, then count me in, baby."

"Great, then you can sit back and watch me win the race."

"I think you mean you can sit on that lawnmower of yours and look pretty while I win the race."

Lina sighed, picking up the red haired baby. Rosemary giggled happily as she pulled the flowers apart petal by petal. The sun glinted off of the ceramic blue flower that sat happily on the folded up blue rim of the baby's hat. The background of red paint currently was covered with mud Rosemary had picked up while playing. Her mother had abandoned her, running off with a different gnome, leaving the baby's currently busy father and cracked grandmother to care for Rosemary.

"I should take you back to your family, you know?" she asked the baby. Rosemary paid little heed, throwing the flowers to the ground and wrapping her little arms around Lina's neck.

"Tired, are you?" smiling Lina walked out of the bush, carrying the little one-year old out.

"What are you doing?" a harsh, deep voice startled both Rosemary and Lina. They both turned their heads towards the voice.

"Oh, it's you Tybalt," Lina smiled, "I was-"

"Since when is it in your authority to take Rosemary without warning her family?" his face was openly conveying hate and anger towards her. A frown grew on her face.

"Well, I'm sorry for finding your daughter in the middle of nowhere and deciding to bring her back to her father. I had no idea that I couldn't," her voice openly conveyed sarcasm, as she held out Rosemary to her father.

Tybalt looked at the baby as though she had come from outer space, before gingerly pulling the child into his arms. Rosemary giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Lina chuckled, amused by the tough defender of the Red garden being made uneasy by such a small being.

"_Buena Suerte!" _she said as she walked off.

**Once again, not much to say. Other than, PLEASE, oh PLEASE review! I love reviews! If you have constructive criticism you want to share, please, share it! I'm striving to be a better author, and things like that help!**

**Uh, I hope you enjoyed reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Ugh, just looked at my summary, and I'm ashamed. **

**Oh, well, might as well leave it be.**

**And I looked at my other chapter. I broke down into something that was like hysterical laughter and sobbing, and yelling.**

**I had her kill him? O.o**

**Wow, that was so not according to plan.**

***pulls out bag of chips* "crunch, crunch, crunch"**

**Well, Aren't you gonna read the chapter?**

***baby brother grabs bag of chips, throws them on the ground* AAAAAHHHHHH! Okay bye!**

Lina watched, amused, from her perch in the apple tree, as Tybalt tried to get Rosemary off of him, and onto the ground. He wasn't having much success, and was attracting a lot of attention from the rest of the garden, which seemed to irk him even further.

Finally, he bellowed at the group of gnomes watching him, "Don't you have better things to do? 'Cause if you don't, I'd gladly volunteer this squirming little brat to occupy your time!"

At that, the entire group scrambled, terrified of getting stuck caring for the baby.

"Wow," a voice whispered softly. The sound nearly sent Lina flying up onto her feet, but she managed to curb the urge before she caused herself a fatal trip down the tree onto the ground.

"Seems like Tybalt's met his match." Juliet. Lina could recognize that voice anywhere. She let out an inaudible sigh, before standing up. She loved to spy on people, watching their expressions as they reacted to different scenarios, and she wasn't going to miss a golden opportunity to spy on the Red garden's treasured girl. Slowly she climbed higher, finding a branch that concealed her from Juliet, but let her watch both what was going on below and Juliet's facial expression.

Juliet was standing comfortably, leaning against the trunk of the apple tree, one arm reaching around and behind the trunk, while the other one limply held the long-handled shovel that she had come to favor as a weapon. Her face was tilted down slightly, the corners of her lips curling up in amusement, a sliver of her teeth showing as she watched her fuming cousin try and peel the baby off of himself.

_Seems like I'm not the only one who likes to spy,_ Lina thought to herself amusedly.

Juliet's gaze lifted up from just below them, and turned to a different corner of the garden. Lina followed her gaze, finding nothing in particular that would catch one's attention, except…

Gnomeo.

_Huh._

Lina switched back to the young red-hatted woman below her, watching every twitch that her face made.

The girl's eyebrows rose, just ever so slightly, as her eyes seemed to glaze over, just a hint, as she watched the blue gnome. Her shoulders seemed to relax a little, as every feature on her face and body went from tense and hard, to soft and more relaxed.

_More…feminine, altogether._

…_Oh, I see._

The young Red gnome was attracted to _her_ boyfriend. Lina chuckled, ever so slightly. She didn't mind. Oh, no, not at all. Maybe…maybe there was some hope for this garden after all.

"So there's a race? Tomorrow?" Lord Gnathan shook his head at his son, a soft smile playing on his lips.

"Didn't you have one just last Sunday?" Lady Blueberry crossed her arms, frowning disapprovingly.

Gnathan chuckled, wrapping his white-sleeved arm around his wife. "Aw, come on love. Don't you remember all the races you used to get for me?"

Gnomeo rolled his eyes, crossing his arms as he waited.

"That was when we were younger, Gnathan, it's different now."

"Um, I am twenty-three, you know. I can make decisions on my own," Gnomeo interjected, regretting it as soon as it came out.

Lady Blueberry turned her gaze towards him. "Oh, you're right. You've grown up on us."

Lord Gnathan laughed, pulling his wife away from their son before she started getting too nostalgic.

"I'll see you at your race, son!"

Gnomeo chuckled, "Sure."

Meanwhile, Juliet was having a worse problem than a nostalgic mom; an overprotective father.

"No, I refuse to let you race!"

"Redbrick, please-"

"No," he cut off his wife, "She is becoming obese-ed with this whole racing project!"

"Its 'obsessed' and 'prospect'," Juliet murmured, crossing her arms as she rolled her eyes. Did her dad seriously have to blow a gasket every time she had a race?

Lord Redbrick continued to rant as Lady Cordelia gently placed an arm around her daughter's shoulders, sighing.

"Patience, my dear, patience," she whispered quietly. Juliet scoffed incredulously, holding her hands out to indicate her father. Her mother sighed; shaking her head and tucking a stray strand of fading blonde hair back up into her hat.

"And there is absolutely no way you are racing tomorrow!"

"Dad, I'm twenty-one! I can take care of myself!"

"No, you cannot!" Lord Redbrick bellowed, his face nearly turning red. Cordelia reached over and gently wrapped her arms around her husband.

"Now, now love, no need to get so upset. Calm down, you don't want to do anything you'll regret later."

His wife's soft voice seemed to pull the Red leader back into reality. He faced her, placing his hands on her shoulders. After taking a few calming breaths, he composed himself.

Juliet was inspecting her fingernails with a disinterested look on her face.

"Now, Redbrick, look at me. Please, I don't see any reason why not to let Juliet race, I mean, look at how many races I had," Lady Cordelia tried to reason with her husband. He sighed, glancing at the cracked line that circled her neck, "Nothing ever happened to me, or my opponent."

"Cordelia, you know how I hate that alley," he gingerly traced the cracked line with his thumb, "I just hate letting her go out there."

The green-eyed older gnome sighed, knowing what he was referring to. "Just because I got hurt doesn't mean she will, okay?"

He still shook his head, but consented.

The younger gnome's green eyes lit up happily.

***Is sitting on the floor eating the chips off of the floor while baby brother makes "chip-angels"***

**Me: Oh Hi, You finished! **

**Everyone: 0_0**

**Me: What? I mopped the floor with bleach this morning! "Crunch, crunch, crunch" Did you like the chapter? Please tell me I'm begging you! *gets onto knees***

**Everyone: Uh…**

**Me: Oh come on, I'm joking! Hahaaha! *keeps eating chips off of the floor***


End file.
